War on dagga puts rural people at toxic risk, specialists warn
A weedkiller used on marijuana plants is said to pose a danger to the health of communities where subsistence farming is the mainstay
Mail and Guardian (South Africa)
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Thursday, March 19, 2015
The climate in the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape in South Africa has made cultivating dagga (cannabis sativa) popular since people settled here centuries ago. Dagga is a staple of traditional medicine, used as medicinal tea and given to sick people and livestock for a variety of ailments. 500 hectares of cannabis fields in villages have been sprayed with the herbicide Kilo Max. The active ingredient in Kilo Max is glyphosate. "The helicopters came and sprayed something here that is making our people and livestock sick." (See also: Police helicopters destroy dagga plantations and communities)
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